YBA Passion Integrated or ML 383

Jeez, my drivel was in English;just because I wrote it doesn't mean I'm supposed to understand it. English is a third language for me.---I don't speak or understand the first two.---I've had several posts denied. No language was used; only gestures.

How insensitive of me. I didn't realize you were living with such debilities. I should've guessed from the post. Your fly is unzipped too. What were your posts denied of? Food? Water? Or perhaps your posts have been denied entry into this great country of ours?! A country where a man can lay claim to three languages, babble on some drivel in English with his fly wide open and his pants rolled up like his basement had been flooded and he'd just remembered the stack of porno mags stashed behind the furnace, and yet still be taken seriously?! Oh brother, you are a man after my own heart. I'd salute you but my pants would fall down! Yes, my posts have been denied too...many a time! Can you imagine?! They don't even send'em back to me anymore, they just disappear into cyberspace never to be heard from again. Sometimes entire threads are engulfed with them. Hey George, pull my finger!

Marco

I have used the YBA passion integre for about 6 months now and am very pleased with its sound. I have no experience with the ML gear but I have a friend who runs their top of the line separates and they sound very good also with his Dynaudio Evidence Tempatation speakers.

As concerns the YBA integre, I think it's one of the more versatile ones out there offering dual outs (one for the highs and one for the lows ... this made a considerable difference in my setup BTW) so you can in effect almost truly bi-amp you speaker, instead of the regular bi-wiring available. In addition, this integre can be used as a stand alone amp (preamp bypassed via video-in mode) and this is where its greatest strength lies. I have found that its preamp is a little tame and rounded off in the highs providing extra warmth here which is not entirely natural. Furthermore, it tends to bloat up the bass as well, adding extra weight. These considerations should be taken into account for a source that is slightly bright in the highs or that has little but WELL articulated bass, otherwise it will boom in the room and overload it very quickly. The mids are very good even in the preamp section. Mine also offers XLR in but there is an alternate version that offers Phono in ... note these 2 are not interchangeable or upgradeable.

I also found that placing the YBA on Symposium Rollerblock series 2+, in double stacked configuration, has brought it to a whole new level as far a resolution, dynamics, transients, bass definition and depth, palpability is concerned. Therefore I highly recommend them.

In my system I use an Audio Aero Capitole MKII SE as my source and find that it's preamp is definitely better than the YBA preamp in the integre, therefore I bypass it. BTW, I also use symposium rollerblocks here ... they really make a difference.

Cheers

Ctchen: The French audio reviewers disliked the ML383 very much so they don't consider it a benchmark at all. They found it too dark and slow. I am not sure which part of Europe you were referring to.

Aball,
my french is very poor, that`s why I follow mainly the British ,Dutch and German audiopress.
And they consider the ML as one off the best integrated on the market.
BTW. recently I took another road and bought the TacT Millennium MK2 ,it has been on the top of my list but very rare on the secondhand market.